Also from this year: Gran Turismo, based on the long-running hardcore sim from Sony, and which the poster really, totally wants to make sure you know it’s BASED ON A TRUE STORY. The latest, 2023’s The Super Mario Bros., dives back to familiar territory for this genre, which seems like it will perpetually dance on the edge of Freshdom. And then, in 2021, Werewolves Within went Certified Fresh, establishing it as by-far the best-reviewed video game movie! Then in 2020, when it didn’t seem it had a chili dog’s chance in hell, Sonic the Hedgehog to general critics enthusiasm, marking three Fresh video game movies in two years.

And in another surprise 2019 development, the second Angry Birds movie has slingshot the naysayers by racking up plenty of critical praise, toppling Pikachu mere months after its release. movie started all this trouble, would be the one to end it. We’re using a 20-review minimum cutoff for inclusion from theatrical releases only, because it’s not just enough to make a questionable movie, critics need to witness the aftermath, too.Īnd in May 2019, Detective Pikachu officially broke the video game curse! Fitting that Nintendo, whose Super Mario Bros. Here, you will find the near-decent ( Rampage, Resident Evil), the should’ve-been-goods ( Assassin’s Creed, Warcraft), the ridiculous-but-we-love-thems ( Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill), and the ones made by Uwe Boll, who deserves his own category ( Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead). (Photo by Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection)

But like the kid who just has to pump in one more quarter to reach for that high score, the studios keep on trying (while the fans just keep on hoping), and we’re celebrating that sort of sheer tenacity with this guide to the best video game movies (and plenty of the worst) ranked by Tomatometer! It was in 1993 that Hollywood realized the dream of putting a video game movie up on the big screen with Super Mario Bros., and setting the stage for a long legacy of questionable choices, troubled productions, and gamers’ pixel tears left in their wake.

52 Video Game Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

When game characters in real life 18